Scourge's kit, Raven
by WArriorcats111
Summary: Just after Scourge's death, his secret mate, Ginger, had his kits. Lyla, Moon and Raven. Raven looks exactly like her father, even as small as he was. And when Scourge starts visiting Raven in her dreams, it comes down to one final decision: will she fallow in Scouge's paw prints and become bloodclan leader or will she chose another path? I don't own warriors, erin hunter does.
1. introduction

The cats:

Ginger- golden pelt and green eyes; mother of Lyla, Moon and Raven.

Lyla- calico she-cat with blue eyes.

Moon- dark grey tom with amber eyes.

Raven- small black she-cat with one white paw and blue eyes.

Chapter 1.

"Gotcha again Raven!" Lyla meowed as she triumphantly stood over Raven.

"Let me up! Let me up!" Raven hissed at Lyla, her sister.

"Kits!" Ginger called from the cat bed, "be quiet! Can't a cat get an ounce of sleep around here?!"

"Yeah Raven, be quiet!" Moon meowed to Raven, "you are going to keep mom awake." he yowled loudly. Raven didn't say anything back to her brother; she was used to his taunting. She just wanted to get away from Lyla so she could try to battle her again.

"MOM! Raven won't be quiet!" Lyla yelped to Ginger.

"Alright, everyone, it's time for bed. now." ginger said coldly. Moon and Lyla scrambled over to the bed. Raven finally got up, grateful that Lyla was away now. She looked around, now that she was alone, she could do whatever she wanted. Raven spotted a twoleg toy, her prey. She dropped to a crouch, slowly padding toward it, when she was a tail length away, she pounced. Raven felt her paws touch the toy. She scooped it up and bit into it again and again. Finally, Raven decided it was dead. She sat up, proudly looking at her 'prey.'

"Raven! Where are you?" Raven heard a familiar voice, "coming mom!" she meowed and ran toward the bed. Moon and Lyla where already there, they were sitting in front of her patiently. Ginger glanced at raven, "there you are, come over here." then looked back at Moon and Lyla. Raven hopped into the bed, sitting next to Ginger. Ginger ignored Raven. "Now that you are all here, I have to tell you something."

Raven tilted her head, *_this is probably about us leaving*._ Raven thought, Ginger had told them about that a moon and a half ago. She said it was because our twolegs didn't like kits. Which is true, but Raven knew it was more than that. Ginger didn't like kits. Not even her own kits. But who Ginger really didn't like was Raven's father. He was very vicious. He was so vicious he was in charge of his own clan! Raven thought that was very exciting, being able to run around free, go where ever you want to go. Order cats around. It was a lot better than being stuck in a twoleg home with nothing to do but be tackled by Moon and Lyla. If she was the boss of a clan, she would make Moon and Lyla hunt just for her. Anyway, she wished she lived with her father instead of her mother. He looked a lot like Raven; he was a small black cat with one white paw.

His name was scourge.


	2. Time to leave

Chapter 2

"Raven! Are you listening?!" ginger meowed sternly to her daughter. Raven blinked, "what?" ginger sighed, "I said tomorrow you will be leaving."

* Tomorrow? Yes! The day had finally come! Good bye twolegs, hello freedom!* Raven grinned.

"Is Raven going to come?" Moon asked Ginger.

"Of course! Why would I take Raven and give away you two?" ginger hissed. Moon and Lyla groaned,

"She's useless!"

"She's small!"

"She can't catch her own tail!" Raven winced at that comment, why couldn't she catch anything? Anything that was moving at all she couldn't catch it.

"She's going with you and that's that!" ginger's fur bristled, then calmed down. "You will meet a cat called Ghost. He will teach you how to live out there. How to fight, how to find food, you know, that kind of stuff." Ginger went on, "and I expect you to be on your best behavior when you see him, few cats are willing to train kits that are not their own. Now, Moon, your best skill is probably fighting, so pay very close attention when he is showing you how to fight. You hear?" Moon nodded to Ginger, "I understand."

"Good. Now Lyla, Your best skill is tracking. So pay close attention to Ghost when he teaches you that got it?" ginger turned to Ginger.

"Yes Ginger." Lyla smiled sweetly at her. Raven looked at ginger, it was her turn next.

"Raven," ginger paused, raven didn't seem to have any skills in Ginger's eyes. She decided to tell raven what she truly thought about what she should do. "You keep out of Moon and Lyla's way. Do you understand?" raven nodded, "yeah." ginger nodded to raven, then looked at all three kits. "Now go to sleep, you will need your energy to travel to Ghost's home. It's a long way to Ghost's alley."

"Yes ginger." all three kits nodded to her, and lay down to sleep. Raven started to sleep right away, no matter how excited she was, she was still very tired.

"Get up raven!" Moon meowed to Raven, "it's almost time to go! Ghost will be here any minute now!" he hollered in Raven's ear. Raven blinked her eyes open. Ginger was sitting on the backyard window sill waiting for Ghost to come. Lyla was on the ground watching Ginger, and Moon was racing toward Lyla to wait with her. Suddenly Ginger sat up, "he's here." she meowed. Lyla and moon jumped up and down. Raven felt herself do that too, *finally! The time has come!* Ginger pawed at the window, it opened. Raven sniffed the air from the window, so many new smells! Raven scrambled over to where Moon and Lyla were sitting. Once the window was opened, Ginger hopped down and picked up Lyla by the scruff of her fur. Lyla squealed in excitement. Moon glared at her, he obviously wanted to be first. Raven grinned, she didn't care if she was first or not to be outside, she just wanted to go! Ginger slid through the open window with Lyla still held in her jaws. A few long moments later, Ginger came back out from the open window. This time she picked up Moon. Raven smiled, "I'm next!" she meowed out loud, and jumped more. "Stop that!" Ginger hissed. *where was moon? Oh, she must have put outside already.* raven thought. Raven went limp as all kits do when a cat gets picked up by the scuff of their fur. Ginger jumped up the window sill with raven swinging in her jaws. Raven saw a new world. So much green, towering trees, small plants, little bugs. Raven took it all in eyes wide. "Hello little one." a grey-white cat meowed.


	3. Our New Home

The cats-(updated)

Lyla- calico she-cat with blue eyes.

Moon- dark grey tom with amber eyes.

Raven- small black she-cat with one white paw and blue eyes.

Ghost- large grey-white tom with silver paws, training Moon, Lyla and Raven

Violet- small pale-orange tabby with white paws, kittypet near Ghost's alley

Mitzi- elderly grey tortoiseshell she-cat, mother of Fritz, kittypet near Ghost's alley

Fritz- young grey-white tom, kittypet near Ghost's alley

Ember- young, energetic orange tabby she-cat, friend of ghost. Lives near Ghost's alley.

Chapter 3

The grey-white cat looked closely at raven, raven stepped back from the cat's stare. Before she could say a word, he meowed to ginger, "You didn't tell me they were Scourge's kits."

"What difference does that make?" Ginger's fur bristled.

"It means nothing. But I wish you would have told Me." the cat snapped back. Ginger didn't reply, but was obviously mad with the cat. The cat turned to the kits, "my name is Ghost. I will be training you to live as an alley cat. We must go now, before all the twolegs wake up." Ghost meowed motioning with his tail to follow him. Raven, Moon and Lyla scrambled to his paws, "goodbye Ginger!" Lyla meowed, followed by Moon. Raven didn't say anything; she was too absorbed into the outside world to speck. So many new things, it was hard to concentrate. Ginger didn't reply to Moon or Lyla anyway, instead waving her tail dismissively and slid through the window.

"Come on. Let's go." ghost meowed, the kits padded just behind him.

"You must be alert around here, anything could be thrown at you and you have to take it. Dogs, other alley cats, bloodclan patrols..." Ghost was interrupted by Moon's mew, "Bloodclan? Our dad is leader of bloodclan."

"Yes," ghost meowed, "but Scourge not here now. Rumor around here is that he went out to take control of the forest. He has not been back yet, but neither has the rest of the bloodclan patrol."

*take over the whole forest? Ginger said some wild cats live in the forest, what about them? Will they join bloodclan? Become alley cats like us? Maybe...* Raven's thought was cut short by Ghost, "raven? Did you hear me?" raven looked down at her paws, but continued walking. "What did you say?" she meowed quietly. "I said have you seen a dog before? They could be smaller than us, or they can be half the size of a twoleg." Ghost exclaimed. "They will kill a cat, just for fun. But they are very dumb, and easy to trick. But other alley cats are not as dumb as a dog, so really have to fight them. Dogs you can usually get away from without fighting, but other cats are not as dumb as dogs. There are a few special moves just for fighting alley cats, and some for fighting, say, rats. Rats you have to fight, then kill, then eat. It's a little work, but a good treat. Mostly we eat twoleg food that the twolegs drop." Ghost went on and on, through the whole way there. By sun high raven felt like she couldn't walk any further, but she didn't show it. Finally Ghost meowed, "we're here." Raven peered into the alley, it was dark and damp. Twoleg trash was scattered across the pathway. At the end of the pathway was a large twoleg-made hallow rock; spilling over the openings of the twoleg rock was more twoleg trash. It smelled awful; decaying twoleg rubbish and rats filled Raven's nostrils. Ghost walked to the edge of one side of the alley where there were a few old twoleg rags and lay down, "come on you three, we don't have time for today. Rest now." he gestured to three small piles of rags next to his. Raven padded over and sat down in of the piles, again, she quickly fell asleep.


	4. Ember

The cats-(updated)

Lyla- calico she-cat with blue eyes.

Moon- dark grey tom with amber eyes.

Raven- small black she-cat with one white paw and blue eyes.

Ghost- large grey-white tom with silver paws, training Moon, Lyla and Raven

Violet- small pale-orange tabby with white paws, kittypet near Ghost's alley

Mitzi- elderly grey tortoiseshell she-cat, mother of Fritz, kittypet near Ghost's alley

Fritz- young grey-white tom, kittypet near Ghost's alley

Ember- young, energetic orange tabby she-cat, friend of ghost. Lives near Ghost's alley.

Chapter 4

Raven woke up early. She yawned and stretched her legs, glancing at the nest around her. Lyla and Moon where sleeping soundly in their nests, but Ghost wasn't there. Raven glanced around warily, remembering the dangers of being an alley cat Ghost told them about the day before. Where was he anyway? Didn't he know that we had no way of defending ourselves? Raven suddenly felt very small and unsafe. What if a dog came? Or another alley cat? Just then, raven heard a noise coming from the big smelly twoleg rock. Raven saw a tabby cat digging in the twoleg rubbish, she gasped, unable to move. The tabby must have heard her, because she looked up. "Oh? You're awake?" she meowed. Raven nodded slowly, could she trust the cat? The tabby hopped down from the smelly twoleg rock and trotted over. Raven could see her better, she was an orange tabby, and looked rather young, but not nearly as young as Raven. She smiled brightly at Raven, and raven took a step back. Was this some sort of trick? Raven thought. The tabby must have sensed Raven's fear, because she meowed, "you don't need to be afraid. Ghost asked me to watch you white he went to go get food." the she-cat smiled at Raven, Raven felt like she could trust the she-cat. "What's your name?" raven asked her. "I'm Ember. And you must be Raven." Ember replied.

"How did you know my name?"

"Ghost told me about you three, most everyone knows about you, news around here travels quickly."

Raven's eyes grew wide, "what did they say? Anything about me?"

Ember hesitated, "just that Ghost is training you."

Raven raised her eyebrow, she knew when a cat was telling a lie, and this was one of those times. But she didn't push it. "Where did you say ghost was?" Raven decided to change the subject.

"He's out hunting rats around Mitzi's place. He might be awhile, he's hunting for four cats, but you will need the energy for your training."

"We're training today? Yeah!" raven grinned, she couldn't wait! "What will we learn first? Hunting or fighting?"

"Probably fighting, you can survive on twoleg scraps and know how to fight, but you can't survive knowing how to hunt but not know how to fight." Ember meowed back.

"Oh." Raven frowned; she was looking forward to hunting, to show Lyla and Moon she could catch something. Just then, Raven heard a familiar mew,

"I'm back." she glanced at Ghost who was just walking in. he held to rats by the tail in his jaws. With the appearance of Ghost, Ember padded toward the entrance, "Gotta run before the bloodclan patrol. Bye Ghost! Bye Raven!" she said before disappearing.

"So I see you've met Ember." Ghost chuckled. Raven nodded, "who is she?" she asked.

"Ember is a cat I have trained many moons ago. I asked her to watch you while I went out hunting, so you wouldn't be unprotected." Ghost explained.

Raven nodded again.

"Tired?"

"Yeah..." Raven admitted shyly.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, that was a long journey for a young kit yesterday." Ghost smiled, "Why don't you nap for a little bit? I won't be waking your brother and sister for a while."

"Okay." Raven smiled at Ghost, and went to sleep.

~in her dream~

"Hello?" raven called out, where ever she was; it was dark with a lot of trees. "Hello?" she called louder. A raven flew just passed Raven. Raven watched it fly away into the night.


	5. Dreams

Chapter 5

~in her dream~

"Hello?" raven called out, where ever she was; it was dark with a lot of trees. "Hello?" she called louder. A raven flew just passed Raven. Raven watched it fly away into the night. Suddenly she heard something. It sounded like a cat yowling-no, many cats yowling in pain and anger. She ran toward the sound, thinking she might be able to help. Her paws thudded against the hard ground beneath her, stopping every once in a while to listen. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reach the sound. It was like the sound was everywhere. She sat down, and focused all of her skills on listening to the yowls. Raven could make out a few words: attack... Gorsepaw...help...blood and Firestar. Raven shook her head in irritation, what does it mean! I can't make anything out of it! She thought.

"Come on Raven! It's time to get up!" Lyla nudged Raven awake.

Raven blinked at Lyla, "oh." and stumbled out of her nest, still thinking about her dream.

"Hey Lyla." Moon yawned, who just woke up.

"Wake up kits; it's time to get up." Ghost's mew rang above Moon's yawn.

Raven stretched and sat up, looking at Ghost for the next instructions.

"Now, you know what happened to Mitzi's son the other day?" Ghost meowed, eyeing the three kits. "Bloodclan took him, he wandered out of his garden, and Bloodclan cats took him. If he knew some fighting moves, maybe he could have escaped from their paws, or should I say claws." Ghost looked over them, making sure they understood. They all nodded. "All right then, now let's get to training..."

~ ½ moon later~

"Good job Moon, nice use of the front paw blow." Ghost praised Moon after battling with him. "Lyla and Raven, your next." raven sighed and stepped into the clearing, Lyla and Moon always beat her. Ghost would always act like she beat him, probably becasue he felt bad since she was so small. But letting her win the training battle was more humiliating then just losing. Her pelt was always covered in scratches from Lyla and Moon, even in training we keep our claws unsheathed even in training. "It helps prepare you for real battle." Raven remembered Ghost saying after she complained about the unsheathed claws.

"Are you ready Raven?" Ghost looked at Raven.

"Yeah." Raven blinked, snapping back to training.

"Ready...set...go!" Ghost yowled and stepped back. Lyla crouched down ready to spring at Raven, as soon as Raven realized this, she tried to duck. But it was too late, in a heartbeat Lyla tackled Raven, Lyla clawed into Raven's exposed belly. Raven screeched in pain, and tried to get away from Lyla's grip on the scruff of her neck.

"Alright, cut it out." Ghost meowed; usually at this point he called for the fight to stop. Raven relaxed a little, and waited for Lyla to stop attacking her.


	6. Mapleshade

Chapter 6  
"Lyla, I said stop." ghost meowed, more sternly this time. Raven screeched in pain again as Lyla's claws dug further into her pelt. Raven turned and looked into Lyla's eyes; they didn't even seem like Lyla's eyes. Behind the blue cover, there was fire, hungry for power and pure hatred. Raven never saw anything like it, and hoped she would never see it again. Though she was distracted, the pain in Raven was intense, so intense she felt like she was going to die. Raven closed her eyes. Suddenly she no longer felt Lyla's claws sinking in her pelt, the pain was still there, but not Lyla, Raven opened her eyes to see Lyla a fox length away lying on the ground. She got up immediately, glaring just above Raven. Raven then saw Ghost standing just behind her, "are you okay? Raven? Raven answer me!" Ghost was looking over Ravens wounds. Raven tried to answer, but couldn't find the strength to move, not even her jaw. "How could you do this Lyla?!" Ghost hissed at Lyla.

"I-I got caught up in the battle...I wasn't thinking...I'm so sorry."

Slowly, Raven closed her eyes again and hoped she would live.  
Raven blinked, and glanced around. She wasn't in the alley anymore, but it seemed familiar. "Oh yeah, this is the place with those cats yowling." Raven meowed out loud; it wasn't like there were any cats to hear her anyway.  
"That's what you think of this place?"  
Raven nearly jumped out of her skin, "who are you?" she demanded, spinning around trying to find the strange cat who spoke.  
"I'm a friend." the strange cat meowed, though Raven couldn't figure out where the sound was coming from. "Well...go away!" raven hissed, not having anything else to say.  
"But I live here. And you're an intruder." the cat meowed and emerged from the shadows. The cat was she-cat, she had ginger and white pelt and glowing amber eyes, she smiled at Raven. Not in a friendly way, but in an icy cold kind of way, like the way a cat smiles right before they kill you. "Oh, um, sorry..." Raven meowed.  
"Now, who are you?" the cat asked.  
"I'm Raven."  
"What's a loner doing out here?" the she-cat mumbled to herself, then said to Raven, "Do you know why you're here by any chance?"  
"No. but I've been here before."  
"Do you know what Starclan is?"  
"Starclan? Never heard of it." Raven answered.  
The she-cat looked troubled, "do you know the clans?"  
"What's the clans?" Raven asked, *what on earth is this cat getting to?* raven thought.  
"Well I don't know why you're here." the cat admitted, "but you must be here for a reason."  
"Oh." replied Raven.  
"So tell me, anything interesting about you? Something unique?" the she-cat asked.  
"Not that I know of. My brother and sister are a lot bigger than me, they are better than me at everything. I can't even train as well as them." Raven meowed back.  
"Train? You can't be more than 3 moons old." the she-cat shook her head in disbelief.  
"Actually, I am 4 moons old. I have to live on my own when I am 4 ½ moons old." Raven giggled a little by the cat's reaction.  
"You have to live, on your own, when your 4½ moons old? Maybe you loners are tougher that I thought." the she-cat meowed, her thought drifted off. Then everything seemed to start to fade away to Raven, and the she-cat snapped back into reality. "Wait!" raven meowed, "what's your name?" the white-ginger cat answered, "Mapleshade." and with that blackness arrived.  
Raven realized her eyes were closed, and she opened them. The alley surrounded her, its dry brick walls and twoleg drawings all over them. The familiar smell of twoleg rotten twoleg trash filled her nostrils. Ghost was sitting there with some cobwebs. "Raven, you're awake." Ghost seemed relieved, "I thought I let Lyla kill your for a second there!" Raven didn't answer; she glanced around, "where is Lyla and Moon?"  
"I had Lyla go hunt, and Moon went to get some herbs for you."  
"Oh." Raven said.  
Just then, Moon padded in he held a bundle of berries just above his snout, but not in his mouth. "Here Ghost, I brought the berries. Oh hi Raven." Moon glanced in Raven's direction.  
"Thank you Moon." ghost grabbed the berries that Moon just put down in front of Raven. He inspected the berries for a moment, then frowned, "these aren't what I asked for."  
"They aren't?"  
"Those are very poisonous, they could kill a cat."  
"Oh, sorry..." Moon looked down.  
"It's okay, I have not taught you what the healing berry looks like, I almost feed my sister those same berries moons ago." Ghost chucked a little, and gazed just ahead of him, lost in memories. Raven shuddered; she was just moments away from being fed poisonous berries.  
"Be carefully of those you trust..." A familiar cat meowed. Raven jumped a little, looking around, "Mapleshade?" she called through the alley.  
"Mapleshade? What's that?" Moon questioned Raven; his eyes narrowing. Before Raven could answer Ghost spoke, "Mapleshade? I haven't heard that name in a long time. How did you come to know it?"  
"I...uh...heard some bloodclan cats mention it, on one of their patrols." Raven lied, she didn't like lying. But the three cats she trusted where Moon, Ghost and Lyla. Was Mapleshade warning her of them? Maybe it was just Lyla that she was warning her about. But still...  
"That's a dumb name." Moon wrinkled his nose, "what cat names their kit Mapleshade?"  
"Well Mapleshade is not like one of us; she was born in the forest." Ghost said.  
"The forest?" Raven heard herself meow, she had always wondered about forest cats. She heard that they hunted there food, they did not have to scavenge for twoleg scrapes and eat rats.  
"Yes, she was born on the forest, now I don't know the whole story, but for reason she had to leave the forest. She never ate twoleg scrapes no matter how hungry she was. Mapleshade always said it was against the warrior code or something like that. I don't remember much of her; I was a small kit when it all happened. But my mother was her friend, and she told me about Mapleshade." Ghost explained.  
"Cool!" Moon's eyes where wide, just like Raven, he wanted to hear all about the forest.  
"I will tell you more about her later, now we should be going to bed. Lyla will be back later." Ghost stretched tired from today's adventure. Raven nodded; even though she was just sleeping she was still exhausted. Raven began to walk to her nest, but yelped in surprise. Her paw hurt terribly when she set it down.  
"I'll help with that." Ghost meowed, picked Raven up by the scruff of her fur. Raven, instinctively, fell limp. But her thoughts where still humming in her mind. Like about what mapleshade had warned her. Did she mean Ghost? Moon? She never really trusted Lyla; she was always too rough with her. And what about Mapleshade? How could Mapleshade walk in her dreams? Raven blinked as Ghost set her down in her nest, "there, don't be afraid to call me if you need something."  
"I won't." Raven replied, "What happened to Mapleshade?"  
"She died many moons ago, so I don't think you will be seeing her anytime soon." Ghost chuckled and padded to his own nest.


	7. Goodbye Ghost

Chapter 7

~another half-moon later~

"I don't care how young they are. They gotta go today." the large black tom hissed at Ghost menacingly.

"They haven't even finished their training! They aren't ready to leave now! Please just a few more days!" Ghost pleaded.

"Did I say a few days? No, I said today!" the black cat stepped toward Ghost. Raven, Moon and Lyla where hunting for rats when they all ran into the bloodclan patrol, who decided the 3 littermates where now too old to stay with Ghost any longer. Ghost glanced at the bloodclan patrol, then at the three. "Fine, fine, they will go before sun-down." he backed down, looking down at his paws.

"Before sun-down." the large cat repeated, and flicked his tail, signaling the rest of his patrol to follow him back to bloodclan camp.

"Where will we live?" Moon asked Ghost.

"I picked out a place for the three of you to live in for a moon or so, and then you must all go your separate ways." Ghost sighed, "Ember will show you the way, I have to stay so when the bloodclan patrol checks in I can report you three leaving."

"But we are just 4 moons old!" Raven heard herself speak.

"I know Raven, I know." Ghost turned to the alley, "come with me, you need to clear out your nest."

The three kits nodded their head solemnly and followed Ghost.

"Goodbye Ghost." Raven nudged Ghost, "I won't ever forget you." Raven promised.

"Bye raven, I will never forget you either, all of you." Ghost looked over the three kits that huddled were around Ghost. Moon was trying to act all tough and acted like he was rushing to get to his new home, skipping saying goodbye to Ghost, "hurry up Raven, you too Lyla." he meowed. Lyla was also right next to Ghost, "goodbye." and both Lyla and Raven pulled away from ghost and padded up next to Moon and Ember, who was behind Moon.

"Hurry kits, I want to get there quickly." Ember meowed impatiently and began to walk out of the alley along with Moon.

"Coming!" Raven Raced after Ember.

None of them talked on the way to the new alley, nothing would ever be the same without Ghost there.

"You will like the new place, plenty of rats." Ember meowed encouragingly to the three, but the only reaction Ember got was Lyla nodding her head slightly to her and continued walking through the twoleg streets. After a while, their paws ached from the journey, which had lasted into the night. Finally Raven heard Ember's voice, "we're here."

"Here?" raven looked around, there wasn't much here at all. It was a big open space at the edge of twolegplace. It had a twoleg-made rock floor, but unlike the others, this one had grass poking out through all of the cracks, and there were a lot of cracks in it. Twoleg trash littered the place, plus some old twoleg and dog scent. But Ember was right when she said there were a lot of rats to eat, there must be a nest around somewhere. But the best thing was just beyond their new home: a huge forest.

"You better get some rest young ones, tomorrow you can explore your new home." ember meowed and began to pad away.

"Yes Ember." Raven yawned.


	8. Scourge Returns

Chapter 8

Raven padded around the forest looking around. It was the same forest she had been in before, when she was dreaming. "Mapleshade?" she called to nothing in particular. Raven just wanted to talk to Mapleshade about what she said before.

"You probably won't find her. It's a big forest you know."

Raven spun around to face the new cat, but gasped when she saw him. He looked a lot like her, a small black cat with one white paw. He was bigger that Raven, but she was only 4 moons old so ever cat was bigger than her. Raven stood tall in front of the cat, she knew just who he was. "Your Scourge." she meowed bluntly.

"Yes I am."

"Then you're dead."

"You could say that."

Raven tilted her head, "How did you die?"

"That's a tale to tell later, now we train." Scourge stood padded towards Raven.

"You're going to train me?" Raven blinked, surprised.

"Of course, you can't set out to destroy the clans with no training." Scourge smiled at the thought of the clan cats being killed under his daughter's paws.

"Ghost already trained me." Raven pointed out.

"That old fleabag taught you nothing more than to ward off kits." he shook his head in disgust.

"Oh." Raven knew that wasn't true, Ghost had taught them how to survive in twolegplace, so could she trust anything Scourge was saying? Suddenly she began to fade.

"Moon is waking you up." Scourge growled, "We will train tomorrow night."

Raven nodded meekly as scourge and the dark forest disappeared, instead Moon was there.

"I thought you'd never wake up!" moon growled, "You go hunt."

Raven got up, "all right." she stretched her legs and began walk to a grassy area; where the rats would be. Though she wasn't really thinking about hunting, she was thinking about Scourge. Raven couldn't even believe she met him; let alone train with him!


	9. Milo

chapter 9

Raven looked back and glanced at Lyla, still sleeping. Moon saw Raven looking at Lyla.

"I'm waking her up next. Right now, you should hunt at the far north corner of this place." Moon meowed, again nudging Raven toward the area. It was obvious that not many cats have been here. The only other scent besides her siblings was Ember's scent still lingering around from last night. Raven started walking to the north corner; it probably was a good place to hunt anyway.

"bring some back so we can store it!" moon called after her.

*that's odd* Raven thought, *where on earth would we store it? It would turn rotten in 2 dawns!* Though she didn't ask why, Moon would probably just growl at her. The north corner is the closest to the forest. The forest looked so big and scary. Raven remembered mapleshade. Could this be the place where mapleshade was born? Raven spotted a rat picking at some garbage. raven slowly stalked the rat, before pouncing and killing it.

"Nice catch!" a voice called from behind Raven. Raven whirled around to see who it was. a black and white tom cat was padding toward her. "Who are you?" Raven meowed suspiciously.

"My name's Milo." Milo said enthusiastically. "Who are you?" Rather than answering, Raven meowed "What are you doing here?"

"I'm exploring! My house is just of there." he flicked his tail to a twoleg house not too far away.

"Well you better get out of here. You're on my territory." Raven tried to make herself look bigger.

"Hey, I'm only exploring. And besides, who's going to stop me? You?" Milo laughed.

"I'm warning you..." Raven growled. The tom stood his ground. Raven lunged at him, claws outstretched. Milo ducked, sending Raven crashing to the ground. The tom laughed again. Raven lunged at him again, and again he dodged. Raven decided just the run right into him, hoping to claw his exposed belly. Raven charged, this time hitting her target, and tried to claw him. The tom yowled in pain and fear, he jumped back. Raven noticed then he had fresh claw marks on his face. She knew she didn't do that. The tom ran away as fast as he could. Raven looked around. "Ghost? Ember?" no answer. "Mapleshade? Scourge?" still no answer. No scent either. Raven grabbed her Rat and ran to Moon and Lyla to tell them what happened.


	10. betrayal

Chapter 10.

"—and then milo just ran off and I..."

"Let me stop you right there Raven." Lyla meowed to Raven as Raven told Lyla and Moon her story.

"so let me get this straight, you beat up a cat?" Moon meowed, he and Lyla glanced at each other and smirked.

"Yeah! And Milo was so scared!" Raven smiled as she went on.

"uh-huh. I'm so sure." Lyla laughed.

"On the way did you see a hedgehog fly?" Moon smirked.

"I'm telling the truth!" Raven protested.

Moon rolled his eyes, "Anyway, now we only have one rat, and it's almost night. So me and Lyla will take it."

"what about me?" Raven asked.

"you just decided to make up stories rather than hunt." Moon glared at Raven.

raven sighed, "Oh, okay." and curled up in a cold stone. That's what Moon ment by storing food. feeding it to him and Lyla. She watched Lyla and Moon share the rat, talking quietly about something. slowly, she closed her eyes.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO oO

Raven wasn't in the clearing anymore.

The dark forest surrounded her, consumed her.

"Welcome, Raven."

Raven spun around, there Scourge stood.

"you have a bad habit of sneaking up on people." Raven glared at Scourge.

"a bit touchy today are we?" Scourge smiled. before Raven could answer, Scourge spoke, "don't let Moon and Lyla boss you around. First rule to Bloodclan: don't let weak cats who can't even hunt for themselves boss you around. Show them what you're made of, teach them a lesson they won't forget." Scourge growled. "Now, let's train." he meowed, tackling Raven, who was caught off guard. "Hey!" she hissed.

"You need to always be prepared for an attack." scourge eyed Raven. Less than a moment later scourge lunged at her again, this time Raven ducked.

"Wrong!" Scourge hissed, "don't back up from a fight! Head straight for me! Attack!" scourge lunged once more, this time Raven tackled him, Though Scourge quickly pinned her down. "You have to fight hard. Taste the blood of your enemy, don't let up. And keep at it until your enemy cowers in fear, or at the very least runs in fear. And don't be afraid to kill your enemy, any cat who dares challenge you shouldn't deserve living, but you might let some live, to tell the stories of you, make other cats fear you. Rise in power using fear. Fear is very powerful, use it." Scourge finished.

"Yes Scourge." Raven nodded to scourge, fully intent on learning everything there is to know about fighting and power and fear.

"Now you attack me." Scourge said. after a little while, Scourge pricked his ears, "wake up Raven. now." he looked at her expectantly.

"What?" raven said, confused.

"Now! Wake up!" scourge roared. Raven looked at herself; she was starting to fade, waking up.

"Moon and Lyla are trying to-"Scourge's voice faded into nothing.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO oO

Raven blinked her eyes awake. The moon rose high above as she looked around. Lyla and Moon stood a couple tail lengths away from Raven; they were in a hunter's crouch, like they spotted their prey and edged toward it. Raven began to sit up a little, "What are you doing?" she asked them. Lyla looked at Moon and smiled. "Well Raven, this lot isn't big enough for the three of us. Someone's gotta go. And Moon and I thought it would be you. We were going to let you run away, but me and Moon need to kill at least one cat to even begin to think about entering Bloodclan and following Scourge's paw prints. Now just sit still and it will be over quickly Raven, you know you can't fight both of us." Moon and Lyla circled Raven. "B-But Lyla! I'm your littermate!" Raven sputtered.

"You don't think we know that?! Killing a littermate is very cold blooded, maybe it will give us a better shot at being in Bloodclan. Besides Raven, you know we never really liked you. We have been trying to get rid of you for a while now." she grinned at Raven.

"What?" Raven couldn't believe what she was hearing, she knew her sibling didn't like her, but kill her?

"Oh come on Raven. Really, think. Remember when I attacked you that night when we were training with Ghost? Did you really think I just 'got caught up in the battle?' I was trying to kill you!" she laughed.

"And when I tried to give you death berries?" Moon spoke now, "That was no accident. Get it now Raven? Now just let us kill you, and we will make it painless, well, almost painless." he smiled. Lyla snapped at Raven's tail, Raven jumped, out of instinct and fear. Moon and Lyla cackled wickedly. "So you have to choices Raven. let us kill you quickly, or stand and fight and die slowly. what's your decision Raven?"


	11. A Change of Heart

Moon and Lyla still circled Raven, edging closer to her.

"Never back down from a fight." Raven felt Scourge whisper in her ear. Raven suddenly felt all of her anger come up all at once. Lyla and Moon where always better than her. They never let her play games with them. Ginger had always liked Moon and Lyla better than Raven. Moon and Lyla have tried to kill her.

Something snapped inside Raven.

Raven lunged at Lyla in a blind rage. Lyla quickly ducked, "so you want to go out the hard way Raven?" Lyla chuckled, "that's what I hoped you'd pick."

Moon lunged at Raven, Raven did the same and tackled Moon. Moon, caught off guard, was pinned down easily. Raven clawed at Moon's exposed skin as he yowled in pain. Out of nowhere Lyla tackled Raven. Raven, being small, slid right from under Raven and pounced on her tearing her fur off. Lyla screeched, while she tried to get Raven off her. Finally Raven got off, she and Lyla circled each other. Moon was still lying on the ground, unable to get up. Raven's eyes never left Lyla's. Lyla's eyes were full of rage, but behind that there was a hint of fear. "Say hello to Scourge for me Raven." she hissed before lunging at Raven, preparing for the killing bite. Raven met Lyla in midair. They both fell to the ground yowling and spitting. Claws outstretched and teeth bared. The Fur went flying. Finally the scuffle was over, one cat stood tall, Raven.

"You know Lyla, I think your right, this lot isn't big for the 3 of us." Her Icy smile terrified Lyla.

"Please don't kill me Raven, I'm your littermate!" her voice was shakey. Raven looked at Lyla, and thought about what Scourge had said. Raven slashed Lyla's face, leaving 3 claw marks on her face, 3 scars that will stay permanently. "Run away Lyla. And never return." Raven stepped back and let Lyla move. Lyla, watching Raven, edged towards Moon. Moon still lay there.

*Perhaps I clawed Moon more than I thought.* Raven thought, *still, he has to leave.* Raven padded towards Moon. Lyla edged back. Raven looked over Moon. "He'll live." she said, his wounds weren't very bad. She did the same thing she did to Lyla, clawed Moon's face leaving 3 claw marks on it. as she was doing that Raven caught a hint of movement near the twoleg trash.

Moon whimpered, "Please don't kill me..."

"I want you and Lyla gone by the time I get back." Moon and Lyla nodded. Raven turned toward the twoleg trash, walking toward it.

"Who are you?" she growled as she got closer to the heap of trash.

"My name is Shadow." a dark she-cat appeared. "I watched you fight, and I would like to invite you to bloodclan."


	12. Inside Bloodclan

**sorry it's been forever since I last posted! I have been bussy with stuff. will update more now though. please R&R!**

Bloodclan

Leader(s)

Ice- black and white tom with an underbite

Snake- black and white tom

Deputy:

Jaggedtooth- huge tabby tom formally of Shadowclan

warriors:

Willie- tabby tom with a stripe down his back, and light colored muzzle

Small- small dark tabby tom with scars on his chest

Tess- thin gray she-cat with a light gray chest, and markings on her forehead

Snipe- large brown and black tom with a short tail

Shadow- black she-cat with dark brown paws

Snapper- long-haired tortoiseshell and white tom with a torn ears

Jagger- golden-brown tom

Pounce- tabby tom with a lazy eye

Blackear- large black tom formally of Riverclan

Minty- dark gray she-cat

Tooth- black and brown tom cat

Darkpelt-

Flower- white she cat with black ears and paws

Pearl- cream-white she-cat

Apprentices:

cloudy- gray tabby she-cat

Icicle- pale gray kit tom and a white stripe on its forehead

sniff- Sniff is a dark gray tom with a lighter gray muzzle

snowflake- gray and white she-kit

Elders

Brick- brown tortoiseshell tom with many scars

Every alley-cat wants to be in Bloodclan. Even if they didn't believe in Bloodclan's beliefs. Bloodclan cats get best chance at survival. Bloodclan cats get all the good food and water, plus every cat knows not to mess with Bloodclan. Alley cats get nothing. Bloodclan cats get everything. Long story short, Raven jumped at the chance to get into Bloodclan.

"C'mon then." Shadow motioned with her tail, "follow me. I'll take you to Bloodclan camp. Ice and Snake are going to give a report about Bloodclan very soon; we got to hurry if we want to make it in time."

Raven nodded, she stood tall as she followed shadow out of her home. Raven looked over Shadow, she was a black cat with dark brown paws, or maybe that was just mud.

"What's your name, kid?" Shadow's voice startled Raven, but Raven didn't show it. "My name's Raven. I'm scourge's daughter." Raven stood tall and proud.

"I figured that. And those other cats you fought, they were your siblings?"

"Yeah. Pretty weak though. Can't even hunt for themselves." Raven added quickly, not wanting her brother and sister to join Bloodclan too just because they were scourge's kin.

"They didn't seem weak. Seemed like quite tough pair. How did you fight them off so quickly? your just a kit."

"I'm not a kit!" Raven couldn't help but protest, "I'm old enough to fend for myself!" her fur bristled.

"Face the facts; you still have kit fur around your ears."

Raven didn't answer back, but glared at Shadow. Shadow sighed, "I didn't mean to start a fight, now who did you fight off you brother and sister? it would take me, at the same size you are, much longer to fight them."

"Scourge showed me." Raven shrugged.

"Before he died?" Shadow sounded confused.

"Yeah, before that. Why?" Raven decided to keep the dreams a secret, for now, at least.

"Scourge never mentioned you, that's all." Shadow shrugged, like it's no big deal. both cats heard a yowl from a cat just around the corner.

"Hurry up, and Ice has already called the meeting." shadow trotted faster, running up to meet the cat named Ice, Raven guessed. "Stay there." Shadow motioned toward a brick wall, "If any cat asked, say I said you could be there."

"Alright." Raven grumbled, she wanted to meet Ice. her tail drooped a little as she padded to the brick wall. Raven could tell the adrenaline from the battle with her siblings was disappearing, as well as her confidence and ruthlessness. but she had to keep up the act until at least she gets excepted into bloodclan. Raven looked around, but it was too dark to notice much, just twolegs junk. she saw cat's shadow from around the corner. some murmurs between cats. other than that, nothing.

"I figured it would take you longer to get here."

Raven jumped, right beside Scourge appeared.

" Stay tough. Don't back down. Don't let anyone push you around. words of advice." and just like that he vanished without a trace. Raven blinked, a little confused. Oh well, he'll come back later in her dreams anyway, she'll ask what he meant then.

"This runt is her?" a tom voice sneered just to her left.

"This is her." replied shadow, who appeared behind the tom.

"Come on Shadow, I won't fall for something stupid like that. I know she didn't take down two cat's twice her size." the tom kept talking like Raven wasn't right in front of him.

"Stay tough." scourge's words echoed in her head. A low growl escaped Raven's throat and her fur bristled. Shadow, from behind the tom gave a slight smile. The tom narrowed his eyes, to her; he said "what's your name, kit?"

"Raven, daughter of Scourge."

The tom raised his eyebrow, "Scourge could take down a million cats over twice his size. If you're really the daughter of Scourge, I'm not surprised about your story." Raven felt the tom's eyes on her, studding her. Waiting for her next move. She knew she had to say something that would ease his doubts about her heritage.

"Well you better believe it. Now move that sorry excuse for a pelt before I move it for you." I growled. The words I spoke did not seem to come from me, although it was my mouth that formed those words. I raised my eyes to meet his. Quickly he looked at his paws, "go right ahead, Raven." he stepped back to let me pass into the alley. A dim streetlight hung over the alley, blinking on and off. cats where spread apart everywhere. Each one was eyeing another and all spread apart, as far apart away from each other as they could. all cats were strong and tough looking, many had battle scars running all across their body. Most of the cats clustered around a concrete block, where two cats stood. They were facing the other way and talking quietly to each other, so Raven couldn't see them very well.

"follow me, Raven." The tom was now at Raven's side, "I'll take you to our leaders." Raven nodded and followed him. The cats all around were starting to notice Raven, so Raven walked proudly and gracefully, but also trying to maintain the tough look on her face. Still following the Tom, Raven jumped on to the concrete block with the two other cats.

"This better be good Snipe." One of the cats growled.

"Good enough to interrupt us." the other growled.

"This is Raven, daughter of Scourge. She wishes to join us." Snipe told the two leaders. Both leaders looked at me, studding my small size, back pelt and one white paw.

"She fought off two cats twice her size." added snipe.

"Shut up Snipe. Welcome to Bloodclan, Raven. Consider yourself a member. I'm ice. This over here is my brother, Snake. We will introduce you in the meeting. Now go." one of the two cats said. Both cats where black and white, but one, the one called ice, had an underbite. without a second thought Raven hopped back down off the cement block, just as snake called a meeting.

"Come over here. The meeting is starting." snake called as the cats began to surround them. Raven thought it sounded very informal, and that Ice and Snake must not have been leaders very long. She made note of this.

"a new cat will join us on this day. Everyone, meet Raven. Daughter of Scourge himself." suddenly dozens of pairs of eyes turned to Raven, again, Raven stood tall. first impressions make a difference. She didn't need Scourge to tell her that.

"You are the next generation." Ice was addressing all the cats now. it seemed like the pair had prepared for this speech more.

"You are the ones chosen for this" snake said. "And we are the ones who will give you everything you deserve...in exchange for your absolute loyalty." snake paused as murmurs of agreement washed over. Ice opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a totally new cat who jumped out of the shadows. "Hoot! Jumper!" she called out to our leaders. Every cat turned to her.

"Who's there?" growled Ice.

"It's me. Violet." the cat paused, "Your sister." the cat was pale-orange and had white paws. Around her neck was a color, but it didn't have teeth on it. Instead it had a tag on it.

"Hoot? Jumper? We are Snake and Ice. we have no sister." snake smirked.

"Bow kittypet, when you address the leaders of bloodclan. Ice growled.

"I am your sister!" Violet dared to argue, "Your names are Hoot and Jumper!"

"We have no kin other than bloodclan!" hissed Ice.

"Perhaps she's here to grovel for our protection?" Snake looked at his brother..

"Is that it?" Ice turned to Violet once again.

"Give her to us masters." a cat to the right of me hissed, licking his chops.

"yesss, let us have her." another cat took a step toward her.

"Enough! We have not come here to grovel!" a new cat jumped out from the shadows to violet's side. He also looked like the leaders.

"Where are these cats coming from?" I muttered so softly no one else could here. If bloodclan was all big and bad then why is it that there are so many intruders?

"I remember these cats now." Ice's voice was dark. "Once I taught them a lesson...but it seems that they have forgotten. It looks as though they will have to be taught all over again."

"The lesson for today is that weak and feeble cats must die!" Ice hissed. in less than a second a cat near the intruders lunged at the pair. But the black and white one jumped up and slashed at the bloodclan cat's throat.

"Thunderclan..." a large firey orange tom also appeared from the shadows, "...Attack!"

_oh starclan_ I though as dozens of cats were now spilling out from the shadows and attacking bloodclan, _what have I gotten myself into?_


End file.
